Lehman Brothers upgrades Union Bank of California (UB) to
Overweight from Equal weight, citing the bank's "preparedness for
the currently tought credit environment":

In 1Q08, it significantly increased its loan loss provisioning
assumptions. We think that the company has been more aggressive
in recognizing a weaker credit environment, compared to other
regional banks, and can comfortably afford higher credit costs.
While capital ratios remain good, in our view, efforts to
incrementally conserve capital should also be a benefit.
Longer-term, we view its focused presence in California as a
strength. Our 2008 EPS estimate is $4.06 (-$0.14) for continuing
operations and our 2009 EPS estimate is $4.65... Loan growth
should be better than peers and its net itnerest margin should be
relatively stable, with improving loan spreads offsetting deposit
competition. Our revised price target is $60 (+$6).